This invention relates to traffic safety devices and, more specifically, to vertical panel display systems.
Traffic safety delineators are extensively used at the present time to mark potential driving hazards, such as construction zones, lane closures, detours, potholes, etc., as well as to channelize traffic past such hazards. They are often used, as well, on sidewalks, bicycle paths, parking lots, indoor shopping malls, and the like to alert passersby to potential dangers, whatever the mode of transportation.
Vertical panels are well known in the prior art for use as vehicular traffic delineators. They are particularly useful in situations where space for lane closures is limited on the roadway and a full size circular channelizer (such as a drum) cannot be used. Vertical panel channelizers are most usually fabricated of polyethylene sheeting and have a minimum frontal surface area of 270 square inches as required by U.S. government standards, the frontal surface comprising alternating contrasting stripes (typically orange and white contrasting stripes) arranged in a diagonal pattern. This configuration has been shown to assist motorists in guiding their vehicles through the demarcated zone. Prior art vertical panels have a variety of problems, however, which prevent them from being ideally suited to their intended purpose. For example, if they are stackable (which is desirable to facilitate easier transportation and storage), they typically jam and stick, causing difficulty during deployment and often damaging the reflective sheeting displayed thereon. Additionally, they often fail to separate from their ballasting base upon vehicular impact, thus causing potential damage to the impacting vehicle, its occupants, and the delineator device, as well as causing the device to not be in compliance with governmental regulations in many localities. A further problem with prior art devices is that they are often structurally incapable of withstanding the stresses imposed thereon by high winds created by weather conditions or passing vehicles, particularly trucks.